


A Struggle for Scarlett

by GuyBuddy



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Mutual Pining, Sadie Hawkins Dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuyBuddy/pseuds/GuyBuddy
Summary: Scarlett needs to find a date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. What's a former deliquent to do? Scarcody, ScarlettXCody, AU
Relationships: Anne Maria/Harold McGrady V, Cody Anderson/Scarlett, Dawn/B - Relationship, Sky/Alejandro
Kudos: 1





	A Struggle for Scarlett

“ Scarlett, what are you doing this Sunday?” Scarlett raised an eyebrow at her mother’s question.  
“ I was planning to stay in, listen to ‘Faust’, and read.” Her mother wore a nervous expression.  
“ Why don’t you go to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?”  
“ Mother, the Sadie Hawkins Dance is a useless exercise in reversing gender roles…”  
“ Please Scarlett, it’s good for kids your age to socialize…”  
Her mother’s pleading expression, combined with the guilt she still felt from her time in Juvie, broke down the Brainiac’s defenses.  
“ Very well.”  
So, Scarlett put her plans to the side, and the next day at school, rather than keeping her nose in a book, emerald eyes took note of who was taken and who was still open.  
She whittled the tolerable options down to two who weren’t already taken.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
It was during 6th-period Literature when the teacher stepped out for a moment that Scarlett finally made her move.  
“ Beverly.” She snapped in the quiet boy’s direction. “ As you seem to be an intelligent person, I was inquiring as to whether you would be open to the possibility of going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance with me?” The Large boy stared at her for a moment before shaking his head no. He crossed his fingers and gestured towards the girl to his left.  
“ I’m sorry Scarlett, I asked B to the dance yesterday. I didn’t think you would ask anyone.” Dawn explained. Scarlett’s face flashed with annoyance before returning to its neutral expression.  
“It is fine.” Scarlett returned to studying  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
The next possible option was walking away from the school, talking loudly on the phone as Scarlett quietly walked up behind him.  
“ Yeah, Drama class is going great! Yeah, yeah, I got the part. I’ll talk to you later.” Topher turned off his phone and stuck it into his pocket, turning around as he heard a stick crack.  
“ Scarlett!” Topher backed up, attempting to hide her fear behind a smile, “ How...how are you doing?”  
Scarlett frowned.  
“ There’s no reason to be afraid Topher...I served my time in Juvie, and more time in therapy. I am not here to hurt you.” Scarlett made sure to keep her voice even.  
“ Then what do you want?” Fear still hung on every word.  
“ The Sadie Hawkins dance is Sunday, I was inquiring about the possibility of you going with me?”  
Topher looked confused before gears slowly began to turn in his head.  
“ You want to go to the Dance with me?” He slowly got the words out before beginning to speak.  
“ I actually have a date….”  
“ I was not aware you were currently in a relationship.” Scarlett began, “In that case, I’ll leave you alone then.”  
Scarlett turned on her heel and began walking away while a terrified Topher began double-timing back home.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scarlett seethed in her room.  
Logically, she knew that the two rejections today were not Beverly and Topher’s faults. She wasn’t the most popular person, and while many had claimed to forgive her for the incident that sent her to juvie, she knew none of them would ever forget.  
That didn’t make the fact that she may have to go to the Sadie Hawkins Dance alone any less annoying.  
She could see it now, walking in alone, getting stared at like a freakshow attraction(though she always felt like she got looked at like that)and spending enough time to convince her mother that she had socialized.  
All these fears and faults rattled around her mind, while a louder noise began rising from what she guessed would be the garage.  
Placing her glasses back on her face, she went down the stairway, listening intently as the words became more and more understandable.  
“ Cause Baby when I cried, it was because you lied.”  
She opened up the garage door, catching the last line and watching her brother Harold doing his best to strike a pose while the other members of his band stopped playing.  
“ Scarlett” Harold McGrady acknowledged his sister while stuck in the pose.  
“ Still attempting to become a successful band?”  
“ Yep.”  
“ Hey, Scarlett!” Cody waved from the back, hidden behind his keyboard.  
Trent and Justin waved, then returned to strumming his guitar, and admiring his reflection in a hand mirror, respectively.  
Scarlett took note of the four members of the Drama Brothers.  
First, there was her brother Harold, as big of a nerd as she was. Though where she put her intelligence into science and literature, he wasted it on geeky interests and his musical endeavors.  
Second, there was their lead singer, Trent. He was semi-talented with the guitar and a decent friend to her brother.  
Third, there was Justin. He was very physically attractive, but mentally there was not much to discuss. He also only played the tambourine, why was he a member of the band again?  
Lastly was Cody, the keyboard player. He was her brother’s oldest friend, and was one of the first to welcome her back after Juvie.  
Scarlett looked unimpressed and turned to leave.  
“ Wait!” She turned around to see Cody leaning over his keyboard “ What’d you think?”  
Scarlett thought for a moment.  
“ Your music isn’t the audio equivalent of a violation of the Geneva Conventions anymore.” She shrugged, “ Is that sufficient to answer your question?”  
Cody looked a little hurt, but smiled anyway.  
“ Yep, thanks.”  
“ What do you want, Scarlett?” Harold asked, muttering “ Gosh” after asking his question.  
“ I was going to ask you to please keep it down. I’m trying to read.” Scarlett turned on her heel and walked away, leaving the aspiring band to resume practicing.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
It was Saturday, and Scarlett was attempting to ignore the sense of impending doom that loomed over her.  
Tomorrow, she would go to that infernal dance alone, hate herself and the school for a couple of hours, come back and lie to her mother’s face.  
“ Yes Mom, I had fun.”  
It was 8 at night, and Scarlett was reading when she heard an odd noise coming from her garage.  
She placed a bookmark in John Milton’s masterpiece, tucked in under her arm, and made her way down the stairs and to the garage door.  
The voice was familiar, though she couldn’t place it.  
It wasn’t her brother’s rough beatboxing or his ‘rapping’.  
It wasn’t the Drama Brother’s lead singer Trent.  
“ When you don't come around.  
I was lost and now I'm found!”  
Scarlett finally opened the door to see Cody playing his keyboard with his eyes closed.  
He opened them as he heard the door open, giving out a cry of surprise. The music abruptly stopped.  
An awkward silence fell between the two for a solid 30 seconds.  
“ I don’t think I’ve ever heard that song before.” Scarlett pointed out, breaking the silence. Cody looked happy at the question.  
“ Yeah, it’s just something I’ve been working on. Does it sound bad?”  
“ It sounds fine, a big improvement over that silly ‘When I Cry” song.”  
“ Hey!” An offended Cody said, before weakly adding “ It’s not that bad…”  
Scarlett’s gaze became amused, before suddenly shifting to curiosity.  
“ Where’s my Brother?”  
“ Him and the other guys went to see the new Blainley O’Halloran movie. I figured I’d get some practice in.”  
“ Not a fan of her?”  
“ No, I just didn’t want to feel like a 4th wheel…”  
“ 3rd wheel” Scarlett corrected him.  
“ Well, there’s 3 of them, 6 if you count their dates.” Cody retorted.  
“ So you decided to spend the night in a musty garage?”  
“ Didn’t have any better plans.” Cody shrugged, then started fiddling with the controls on his keyboard.  
“ I knew a girl named Scarlett  
With eyes pretty as garnets…”  
“Garnets are more commonly red, the rather rare Uvarote is one of the few ones I share my eye color with.” Scarlett pointed out.  
Cody just looked surprised.  
“ Okay, then how about…  
“There’s this cute girl I know  
Reads Faust and Ivanhoe  
Wish she'd give me a second look  
But her nose is stuck in a book.”  
“ Much better, though I am wondering what your end goal is?” Cody’s cheeks flushed red.  
“ Just throwing out lyrics...your brother’s our main songwriter, though.”  
“ So he’s the one I have to blame for putting together that ridiculous “ Baby” song?”  
Cody perked up, a goofy smile on his face.  
“ Oh come on, those are some of the greatest lyrics ever sung.” Cody began playing and singing in a rough approximation of Harold’s voice.  
“ I demand a scientific investigation  
To whether you're even from the human nation  
I swear you're changing my molecular structure”  
Scarlett gave a giggling snort.  
“ What you reading?” Cody pointed to the book under the redhead’s arm.  
“Paradise Lost.”  
“ The one about the Devil? Is it any good?” Scarlett perked up, as nobody ever asked her what she was reading.  
“ It is indeed about Lucifer, and is a classic for good reason.”  
“ Cool, cool.” Cody looked down, a bashful expression on his face.  
Scarlett’s face wore a pensive expression.  
“ Cody, would you mind if I asked a favor of you?”  
“ Shoot.”  
“Would you mind accompanying me to The Sadie Hawkins Dance tomorrow?”  
“You mean as your date?” Cody asked hesitatingly, not quite believing he had just been asked out.  
“ That is indeed what I mean.”  
“Yeah!” Cody recovered from his excited outburst and tried to act suave.  
“ I mean, sure.”  
“ Wonderful, the dance begins at 6 PM tomorrow. I will see you then.” Scarlet closed the garage door and went back to her room.  
Cody pumped his fist in the air after pinching himself to confirm that he was indeed not dreaming.  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“ Ezekiel, calm down.” Bridgette placed a calming hand on her date’s arm.  
“ Sorry, eh.” he let out as he finished adjusting his tie. “ I don’t feel like I fit in here.”  
“ Zeke, it’s fine. You look nice.” Zeke did his best to smile.  
“ I’ll go get us some punch, okay.” The prairie boy left the blonde surfer, walking over to the table and filling up two cups. This placement let him be the first to see the odd couple walking in together.  
Dressed in a dark blue tux was Cody, one of Ezekiel’s only friends. The Tech Geek’s nervousness turned to a smile as he waved at Zeke.  
There was a red-haired girl with him, with her hair in a prim and proper bun, and dressed in a dull green dress.  
Ezekiel walked back to his date and handed her a cup.  
“ Who’s that girl with Cody, eh?” Bridgettes squinted in the direction of the odd couple, then her eyes widened.  
“ That’s Scarlett.” she let out a gasp.  
Cody did his best to stand up straight and look confident while walking in.  
He tried to pretend that this wasn’t the 1st real date he had ever been on, tried to not look nervous.  
“ Cody...Scarlett.” A surprised Harold let out, while his girlfriend looked the odd couple up and down.  
“ Weird combo. Gingy, you know this girl?”  
“ Anne Maria, this is my sister Scarlett. Scarlett, Anne Maria, Anne Maria, Scarlett.”  
“Nice ta meet ya.” Anne Maria said in her thick Brooklyn accent. The two shook hands.  
“You as well.”  
The two walked away from Cody and Scarlett.  
“ You’ve never met Anne Maria? She’s been Harold’s girlfriend for almost a month now…  
“ My brother tends to make it a habit to not introduce me to his girlfriends. Perhaps he’s scared I’d embarrass him.”  
“ Yeah, 'cause you’re the embarrassing sibling.” Cody sarcastically commented.  
“ Well, I didn’t think I’d see you two here.” Trent and Justin walked up to their bandmate, with their dates Sadie and Katie respectfully.  
“ Why’s that?” Cody asked. Justin shot a snide glance at the brainiac.  
“ It doesn't seem like your scene. Katie, let’s go get some punch.”  
“ Okay.” Katie followed the model as though she was in a trance.  
“ I’ll see you guys later.” Trent and Sadie slowly inched away towards the punch table.  
Scarlett fidgeted.  
“ You okay?”  
“ I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do here,” Scarlett complained.  
“ Socialize? Dance? I don’t know, never actually been to a dance…”  
“ You certainly act like someone who’s been to many.”  
“‘Fake it til you make’” Cody shrugged, then smiled, “ And I think it’s safe to say I’ve made it.”  
“ How’s that?”  
“ I’m here with you.”  
Scarlett blushed, then frowned.  
“ One moment, I need to use the little girl’s room.”  
Before Cody could comment, Scarlett had quickly made her way to the restroom.  
Scarlett stared into the mirror, a thoughtful expression on her face.  
“ What is wrong with you?” Her voice was small.  
“ Scarlett?” The redhead turned her head to see a person she'd hoped to never see again.  
“ Sky, what are you doing here?”  
“My taxes, obviously.” Sky joked, but her smile fell as the brainiac’s face didn’t move.  
“ Are you okay?”  
“ No. I don’t know what I’m doing at this dance, I don’t know what to do here, and I don’t know how to feel about my date.” Scarlett was close to hyperventilating. Sky didn’t hesitate to place a comforting hand on the redhead’s shoulder.  
“ Hey, it’s okay. Just slow down, and start from the beginning.”  
Scarlett slowly filled in the athlete on the events of yesterday.  
“ You and Cody, huh?”  
“ You find it funny?” Scarlett’s tone was bitter. Sky put up her hands defensively.  
“ No, just really didn’t see it coming. Cody’s a wannabe ladies man, and you’re…”  
“ An insane delinquent?”  
“ I was going to say Brainiac. Still, he seems like a good enough guy, so what’s the issue?”  
“ I don’t know. I’m having issues breathing, my stomach is churning, and in general, I feel queasy.”  
“ Maybe you’ve got food poisoning?” Sky offered.  
“ No, I believe it’s… it’s hard to explain.”  
“ What’s wrong?”  
“ Why do you care? I’m a freak and you’re the girl everyone loves.” The redhead spat out angrily.  
“ I don’t think you’re a freak.” Sky took Scarlett’s hand into her own. “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong? I’m sure you’ll feel better after you get it out.”  
“ I...feel things.” Scarlett struggled to get the words out.  
“Her aura is normally one half brownish yellow and one half cloudy green. But now it’s tinged with a small fringe of baby pink.” Dawn added, shocking the two.  
Scarlett and Sky gave baffled looks to the moonchild.  
“ What exactly does that mean?”.  
“ She has a growing affection for someone.” Dawn elucidated.  
“ Wait, you…”  
“ Please do not laugh.” Scarlett’s eyes were closed in embarrassment.  
“ I wasn’t going to. So, what are you going to do?”  
“ What do you mean?”  
“ Well, are you going to just stay in this crummy bathroom for the whole dance or are you going to go out there and have fun with your date?”  
Scarlett sighed.  
“ I suppose I’ll give it a chance.”  
Dawn took Scarlett’s other hand and the two girls led the nervous brainiac back to the dance.  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Cody drank another cup of punch and hung out on the edge of the crowd.  
A familiar fear of being ditched wormed its way into his mind.  
He did his best to fight it down and listened in on the chatter and gossip.  
“ Did you see them?” The voice belonged to the Head cheerleader Amy.  
“ What’s she doing here?” The voice belonged to Sugar, the pageant queen.  
“ Her? What about him? He doesn't belong here, he’s a geek.” Cody frowned as who they were talking about became clear.  
“ Cody.” Cody jumped as his redheaded date touched his shoulder.  
“ Scarlett. I was starting to get worried…”  
“ Could we go outside for a moment?”  
“ Sure.”  
Scarlett grabbed Cody by the arm and led him out of the dance, out of the building to a patch of grass.  
She sat down, putting her chin in her hand.  
Cody sat down, criss-cross style.  
“ Scarlett…”  
“ Cody, what do you see when you look at me?”  
Cody had a thoughtful expression on his face.  
“ I see a very smart girl who I’d like to see smile.”  
“ You’re wrong. What you see is a former juvenile delinquent who can’t understand why you’re so insistent on trying to make her happy.”  
“ It’s not complicated. You’re cool…”  
“ How am I cool?”  
“ You’re really smart, well that’s not the right word. You’re brilliant. And in your own way, you actually care about people.”  
Scarlett looked unconvinced.  
“ Like yesterday.” Cody continued, “ You actually said we had improved. Heck, you even complimented my stupid little song.” Cody rubbed the back of his neck.  
“ Cody, what exactly do you want from me?”  
“ To get to know you better?” Cody offered.  
“ Anything else?”  
Cody blushed.  
“ To be my girlfriend?”  
“ I see...and how long have you wanted that?”  
“ Well, you know our song ‘Brains and Beauty’? You were my muse for that…” Scarlett playfully slapped the back of his head.  
“ Hey!”  
“ Next time, write a better song.”  
“ Will do.”  
A comfortable silence fell over the two as they sat under the stars, exchanging smiles.

“ You want to go back?” Cody finally broke the silence.  
“ Not really. I won’t let them beat me though.” Scarlett stood up, “Let’s go.”  
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
“ That was far more fun than I expected to have,” Scarlett commented as the redhead’s house came into view.  
“ Sky and Alejandro are a fun couple to hang out with.” Cody conceded.  
“ Indeed, I believe that we should go on a ‘double-date’ with them.”  
“ You want to go on another date with me?” Cody’s disbelief was clear.  
“ Yes, I believe that’s what I just said.” Scarlett stepped up to the top step of her home, “ Of course if you would prefer not to…”  
“ No!” Cody’s smile was nervous, “ I’d love to do this again sometime.”  
Scarlett smiled.  
Cody smiled.  
Both leaned in closer.  
Just before their lips touched, the door opened wide.  
“ Scarlett!” Her mom was standing right in the doorway, a surprised look on her face  
“ Coming Mother.” An embarrassed Scarlett stepped inside, leaving a surprised Cody.  
He stood there for a few moments before Scarlett quickly opened the door again and pecked him on the cheek.  
“ I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” Cody didn’t move as she shut the door again.  
A large blush spread over the tech geek’s face, and he couldn’t help but began to sing his song as he walked home.  
“ She’s got brains and beauty  
Wish she’d be my cutie.  
Yeah, I’ve got love in my heart  
For a girl who’s so smart…”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I finally wrote something that isn’t CodyXCourtney. Look out for flying pigs tomorrow folks!  
> The genesis of this one-shot was me rereading one of my favorite crack ship stories, “ A flush of Scarlett”. I cannot explain why I like this pairing so much, it just works for me.  
> I’ve also always wanted to write something involving A Sadie Hawkins Dance, as that messes with the natural order of things where now the girl is the one asking out guys.  
> Why are B and Topher the two guys she asks out before Cody? I wanted her to ask out a person from each generation.  
> Topher is the only normal person from Pahkitew I could see her thinking is somewhat attractive, though I did consider using Dave in that place.  
> B is a genius, Scarlett’s a genius, it just made sense for her to ask him.  
> This story has been in the works for a while. Behind CoCo, Scarlett is one of my favorite people to ship Cody with. That’s probably due to the few but well-done stories pairing the two.  
> The fanon and crack pairings populating the dance were more of a “Why not?” thought I had.  
> Anne Maria and Harold’s relationship is a reference to a series of one-shots by Longstockingz which made me really love the ship. Read them, they make the pairing work.  
> Katie and Justin/Trent and Sadie were more chosen as I wish the bfffls got more use.  
> B and Dawn have long been a popular ship, and it let me introduce Dawn before she shows up to give advice.  
> Sky and Alejandro were chosen at random to be a couple.  
> I’m well aware the songs suck, but I’d argue they’re on par with the one Cody sung in his audition tape. Also, readers with good memories may have caught that the song Scarlett caught Cody singing was the very same song Cody sang in his audition tape.  
> Overall, I’m quite happy with this story. I actually put some effort into editing, so there are fewer little faults that will annoy my dear readers.  
> Well, review down below if you liked it, and if you didn't, review and tell me why not.  
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
